keatonatron wrote:I would personally go with "B２が思うのはどうでもいい," which I think would translate closer to your "don't give a damn" sentence.

Sorry but I'm a bit confused. Isn't "dou demo ii" neutral in a sense that when you say it, you don't really convey annoyance? Would "kamawanai" be a better option? If so, how should the sentence be phrased?

sampaguita wrote:Sorry but I'm a bit confused. Isn't "dou demo ii" neutral in a sense that when you say it, you don't really convey annoyance? Would "kamawanai" be a better option? If so, how should the sentence be phrased?

Japanese is a language of underlying meanings.

When you say "dou demo ii," it literally means "any (either) option is okay with me," which essentially means "I don't care what the chosen option is." Based on context and the way it is said, the emphasis could be on not caring or on "anything is okay".

If G wanted B2 to like her, she would be happy with "he likes you" and not happy with "he doesn't like you." If she didn't want him to like her, her feelings would be the opposite. If she simply doesn't care what he thinks, then either option would not change how she feels, which is why you get "dou demo ii."

Of course this phrase can also show up in normal conversations between friends deciding on what they want to eat or where they want to go to hang out, which really shows the power of context and tone of the conversation. If you say it with an annoyed tone of voice, it very strongly conveys annoyance

"Kamawanai" on the other hand doesn't. It's kind of a stiff word that teachers use when talking about how to do your homework and such. (e.g. "電卓を使っても構わない"）